Thurston County Resources for Youth

Stonewall Youth – An organization of youth, activists, and allies that empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQQIA) youth to speak for themselves, educate their communities, and support each other.

Partners in Prevention Education (PiPE) – Works to engage homeless and at risk youth and adult allies in the elimination of sexual violence, bias & hate crimes as they contribute to homelessness and as they exist in street culture. “We achieve this though social change work, violence prevention education, and survivor support services including advocacy, therapy and support groups.”

Planned Parenthood – Planned Parenthood believes in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual’s income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence. We believe that respect and value for diversity in all aspects of our organization are essential to our well-being. We believe that reproductive self-determination must be voluntary and preserve the individual’s right to privacy. We further believe that such self-determination will contribute to an enhancement of the quality of life and strong family relationships.

Capital City Pride – Capital City Pride was founded with the sole purpose of hosting the annual Pride events.

Scholarships and Higher Education

OnlineColleges.net Guide for Choosing LGBTQ+ Friendly Colleges– With a focus on emerging trends and developments in online education, OnlineColleges.net has been informing prospective students since 2009. OnlineColleges.net provides free student guides and college search information, along with expert advice from Melissa Venable, PhD, an experienced online instructor and thought leader.

The Best Colleges for LGBTQ Students, put out by The Best Colleges this guide offers strategies for determining colleges that are most likely to be supportive, including information on scholarships for LGBTQ+ students, what questions to ask about campus culture and services, and national organizations that can be of assistance.

Youth Guardian Services (YGS) – runs email discussion and support lists for glbtq youth which are run by peers — all youth the same ages as the members on the lists. The lists are YOUTH13-17, YOUTH17-21, YOUTH21-25, the STR8 list (for straight ally and questioning youth), and the LivingColor List (for LGBTQ youth 13-25 who are affected by eating disorders and/or eating issues). They are a wonderful way to have a safe community online.

Gender Spectrum Lounge
“The Gender Spectrum Lounge is a global online community for gender-expansive teens, their families, and support professionals to connect, collaborate, and find resources.”
Website: www.genderspectrum.org/lounge

Crisis Text Line – Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support and information via the medium people already use and trust: text.Text START to 741-741

Know Your Rights

Washington State Public Schoolshttp://www.k12.wa.us/Equity/ProhibitingDiscrimination.aspx
These are guidelines constitute OSPI’s interpretation of Washington State anti-descrimination law and are provided to support school districts’ understanding of their obligations under these laws. These issues still come up all the time for youth in our community; importantly, pages 28-30 apply specifically to trans youth and schools.

Health Related Resources

QuitDay– “At QuitDay, our mission is to help people add 10 healthy years to their lives. Smoking and tobacco addiction reduces quality of life for millions of people each year. Our team strives to inspire people to quit smoking, and have a positive impact on the lives of their loved ones and their children.”

Addiction Resource has a page of resources related to addiction and the LGBTQ community: “… substance abuse is a huge problem within the LGBTQ community and is much more common than in any other demographic. In fact, it is thought that around 20-30 percent of the LGBTQ demographic abuse substances, in comparison to about 9 percent in the non-LGBTQ demographic.”